Cycling, Garmin, Strava, tutorials, tips & tricks.

Garmin want to terrify you into buying their new Varia bike radar system.

Technology and cycling are having an interesting time at the moment. With companies keen to exploit an affluent market, innovation is everywhere. The new Garmin Varia is yet another gadget you never knew you needed. Or do you?

I have to admit it. When I first saw the promo video for the Garmin Varia I actually thought it was some kind of April fool joke.

Having seen the slick Garmin Edge videos with their cool After-Effects style graphic overlays, the Valeria ad feels much more low budget.

The commentary seems deliberately menacing, as though they are trying to frighten us into thinking we need this new product. As the truck advances towards the rider, the only thing missing is the theme music from JAWS, and the tagline “just when you thought it was safe to go back out on the road…”

This ad made me laugh out loud, for all the wrong reasons.

Dreadful video aside, anything that promotes safety on the roads is a good thing, right?
Yes, if it actually makes any difference to people’s behaviour.

You can almost hear the pathetic cries of the car driver in court who complains that he only hit the cyclist because the Volvo/POC cloud server was down. No gadget relieves us of our personal responsibility, and arguably is only a distraction from using the best equipment we already have to perceive risks – our own eyes and ears.

Garmin Varia also integrates with some new Garmin front and rear lights, which change their behaviour according to the presence of other traffic, so it’s not just about the rider receiving a warning of approaching traffic. It’s two-way, so the approaching cars are subject to brighter lights, flashing at greater frequencies as they get closer to the cyclist.

Garmin Varia release date – when is it coming out?

The Garmin Varia will be released in Q3 of 2015, so maybe that means in time for Christmas. Handy.

Garmin Varia

Update: best online price for Garmin Varia Radar Bundle

You’ll be able to buy the base radar unit by itself if you have an Edge 1000 bike GPS unit, as the software in the Edge 1000 has been updated to display data from the Varia. Clever stuff, and it keeps your dashboard uncrowded. Without a compatible Edge unit, you can optionally purchase the Varia display unit, which will attach to your bar with the same quarter turn mount common to Edge GPS devices.

Best prices on the Garmin Varia Radar Rear Light

DC Rainmaker produced this nice little video preview of the Varia in action:

Will the Garmin Varia actually achieve anything?

As someone who is excited by technological advances, one half of my brain thinks this is an interesting development. It’s the first time there’s been a commercial bike radar system to alert riders of traffic approaching from the rear.

But I have ears for that, and my musculoskeletal system has evolved to enable me to look over my shoulder.

Hell, somebody even invented elbow mirrors already! Check this out –

RearViz – the poor man’s Garmin Varia?

Here’s some blurb from the product listing for the RearViz:

The Rearviz cycling mirror is a great way to make sure you can see what’s going on around you when you’re out on the road, in fact it’s almost as good as having eyes in the back of your head! By attaching to your arms, instead of your handlebars, the Rearviz mirror offers a clear, unobstructed view of the world behind you.

Indicators? No. No (or very few) drivers are going to think you are indicating with those lights, they will always be looking for arms signals. Arm signals still being way more obvious than a dinky little light. Those gloves with lights on were a better idea in that direction.

The brighter/faster flashing with approaching vehicles isn’t a bad idea, for the drivers benefit at least. How much difference it actually makes is debatable. If someone is closing on me at ‘deadly’ speed perhaps I’d rather not know about it….. you can usually hear people like that coming anyway!

Now what does intrigue is if you could harness this technology to use as a ‘following rider’ radar to see if you’ve managed to drop them yet ;)

I question the validity of the radar. Firstly, if it is picking up someone you should be genuinely worried about, chances are they have a closing speed too fast to matter whether you know about it or not. Secondly, if the range warns me about every car approaching from the rear I may unconsciously move towards the gutter to let them pass which really I should be holding my own line. I pick my line of travel based on factors like door zone, road condition, debris. If a driver sees cyclists diving towards the gutter to let them pass then it fosters the idea the cyclist shouldn’t be on the road. My job is to ride predictably, the driver’s job is to overtake when safe.